


A Life on Darillium

by screamingstrawberry



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Kinda AU, Might be OOC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-16 22:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5843986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingstrawberry/pseuds/screamingstrawberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and River spend their twenty four years on Darillium.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Day 1_

He’s counting for them, but she knows he won’t tell her what day it is unless she asks. Because twenty four years, damn that’s a long time, and she sure as hell doesn’t want to waste it counting down. The first night at the restaurant they sit and enjoy each other’s presence, then with the Doctor’s charming smile and a flash of his old psychic paper the pair got a room at the hotel and enjoyed each other in a completely different way.

Towards the end, she noticed something. As she closed her eyes, or what he thought was her closing eyes, he watched her. He watched her as he crossed the room from the bed into the chair and he watched her as she pretended to sleep. And in a reversal of roles, she was the one afraid. How was he going to last twenty four years on Darillium, full of domestics and normality, two things he hated very much.

“A penny for your thoughts, dear?”His voice broke her from her thoughts. She turned her head to look at him. Of course he knew she wasn’t actually asleep, this him didn’t seem to be oblivious about her like the last one.

“You hate domestics.” She sighed in a gasp.

“I don’t hate them, I just find it easier and more fun to happily avoid them.” He said, crossing the room to sit down next to her on the large king sized bed.

“How are you going to last twenty four years on Darillium with me?” She asked out loud, and he actually laughed. She furrowed her brows, her thin ones nothing compared to his Scottish ones, but she still managed to give him quite the glare.

“Well if I remember honey, you’re not one to sit still either.” He said, winking slightly, and she was taken aback by his actual out right flirt with her.

“You’re Scottish, why aren’t you complaining about you being stuck here with me for twenty four years?” River sighed in exasperation. Don’t get her wrong, she loved the idea of all that _time_ with the Doctor, but something about him seemed off.

“Twenty four years with you, River, I could never complain about that.” The Doctor said, leaning forward to press his lips gently against hers. She breathed in as he did so, relaxing as he pulled away.

“Sweetie.” Her gasp was a shaking whisper. After another round of showing her just how excited he was to spend all this time with her, the two fell asleep in each other’s arms.

_Day 2_

The two woke to the sound of rumbling. The Doctor woke to more of a start than River did, and then he laughed at how nervous he had been. “What was that?”

“I am hungry. We did skip out on desert last night.” River complained, sitting herself up onto the headboard. The pillows seemed to have been discarded for a much comfy pillow, meaning her Doctor.

“If I remember correctly, we decided to indulge in a different kind of desert.” The Doctor leaned forward to kiss her lightly on the lips but she pulled back slightly. He seemed disappointed as she turned her head, and her whole body, away from him, and faced the door.

“I didn’t-” The Doctor’s two hearts almost cracked at the sight, he thought, or he assumed, that after all that they said all the things they should of a long time ago.

“While we were running, as we do-”She turned back to face him once more, she took his hand in hers and he didn’t flinch surprisingly. “You didn’t like the hand holding.”

“No I meant, I like to do the hand pulling.” He said, amazed and ashamed that he still hadn’t yet proved to his River just how much she meant to him.

“So the romantics, because I know not all of your faces have been one for intimacy.” She said, her voice almost cracking at the thought of it.

“It’s never mattered when it came to you River. It’s like you’re an echo. Buried deep in the bottom of my two hearts, and the back of my mind. I can’t get you out, but then again I don’t want to. I’ve never been good with words or wooing, but with you it just feels-” He turned his head around the room as if to look for the word.

“Normal?” She suggested.

“Natural.” He replied.

“Doctor I don’t know what to say.” River had never heard something so heartfelt, coming from him.

“Then don’t.” He smiled, something about this grin was much more contagious than any of his others, maybe coming from such a crass exterior it was surprising.

“Okay.” She couldn’t help but smile back.

_Day 3_

They had spent all of yesterday just staring at each other, holding the other in their arms, flipping through the channels on the telly arguing over what to watch, simple married life. Today, they woke up in each other’s arms, and had spent the whole morning spending time alone together. The two sat side by side, neither really dressed, on the bed. One of his legs hung over the side of the bed, while her knee was comfortably wrapped around the other. The Doctor was reading the paper, while River wrote in her diary.

“So where should we start? The paper, the internet isn’t the most reliable it varies, maybe we could go out into town and just ask around-” She cut him off of his rambling.

“What are you talking about?” She laughed slightly.

“House listings.” He said in the most serious tone she’d ever heard. Now it was her turn to laugh at him, he huffed in confusion.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, his Scottish eyebrows nearly connecting at the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry dear, but the way you said that. There’s no way we’re buying a house.” River laughed, shaking her head back and forth, her blonde curls bouncy in time with her.

“No?” His tone was concentrated with disappointment.

“You’re serious?” She asked, turning her head to look at his eyes now. They seemed to have no doubt in them, no fear, not the slightest hesitation.

“Well we’re not going to spend twenty four years in a hotel room.” He said nodding his head in the most serious tone.

“So we’re doing this.” River said, looking into his eyes for confirmation. No more _space_ between them and they had all this _time_ to play with.

“We can make whatever kind of life we want.” The Doctor said. This was him, offering all he had to give her, twenty four years of domestics, normality, and whatever else came with a simple life on Darillium.

“I’d like that.” River smiled, licking her lips, and he held his hand out for her.

“Well then let’s get out of bed and explore our new home.” The Doctor said, lifting her from the bed, the sheets dropping at her feet, her just as he’d left her, naked and utterly beautiful. He pulled her closer to him, nearly slamming her against his chest with the force of it.

He kissed her passionately but slowly, letting his hands ghost of the skin he had just delicately burned into his memory forever. He knew that after all this was over, he would look back on these memories, ghost the air, as if she was still really there. But now, he just enjoyed tracing the lines of her beauty, every single dent and protruding bone there was to his River.

“Sh. Let’s get dressed.” She said, tapping her fingers melodically against his temple as if she could hear his thoughts. The two eventually got dressed, and as they prepared to walk out the door, the Doctor couldn’t help but smile as he watched his wife stick the little blue diary into her purse. She crossed in front of him out the door, but didn’t step more than two feet in front of it waiting for him to link arms with her after shutting the door.

“Ready?” She asked, and he nodded. Making their way through the hotel down to the bottom floor, he nodded at the clerk at the desk as they passed through the front doors.

They decided to stop for breakfast, well actually lunch since it was more around that time. Or at least that’s what it felt like. It was a sum of a whole ten minutes before the two started fighting. Over the color of the windows of all things. The Doctor would not even consider any houses until he looked at what color the lining of the windows were going to be.

“I absolutely refuse to buy a house and then have to look out a window with a musky green tint in the corner of my eye.” The Doctor shook his head.

“We could always paint the windows!” River sighed in exhaustion, placing her head in her hands. It went silent for a moment, and then she heard the Doctor snicker. She lifted her head, and pushed against hiss shoulder.

“You’re such an arse.” She laughed, shaking her head back and forth. The two finished their lunch and decided to take a walk around the town. Maybe look at the houses, or the people, or each other. Either way they’ll probably look at something.


	2. Chapter 2

_Day 4_

The Doctor didn’t hear anything when he woke up. That was a problem. He shot up, looking around the room, River was nowhere to be found. Was it all a dream? A sick dream that was meant to taunt him? No, it was too real. And he could smell her, she’d been here.

It was real, so where was she? He followed her scent. Traced it from the faintest to the most apparent parts of the hotel room. It led him to the dresser, where a scribbled note in her handwriting laid. 

_Went out to pick you up a surprise. Be back in a few.-Your wife_

How long was a few? He couldn’t tell when she’d wrote it, you’d think an archeologist would like to date things. Either way he still couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t even hear the towers that were so close to them, probably the building material. He knocked on a wall, the sound went as fast as it came. 

He paced the hotel room, the tapping of his feet provided at least some kind of noise for him to concentrate on. Normally he’d have the Tardis presence in the back of his head, the humming. But now his head was empty, everything but his thoughts. Which wasn’t doing the best to calm his racing heartbeat.

Shouldn’t he be able to hear his heartbeat, especially with how fast they are beating. He placed his hands over his chest, yes they were still beating, he could feel them. So why couldn’t he hear anything? Finally the pacing got too much so he sat down underneath the desk. 

He dialed the front desk and then told them to hang up on him. Just so he could hear the static. It wasn’t the Tardis, but it was better than complete and utter silence. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and he rocked back and forth. 

The slight sting he got from knocking his head against the wall provided minimal relief. He tried to hum an old Gallifreyan tune, the song of the Towers, even an old pop song he’d heard one of his companions listening to, but it was like his brain couldn’t remember sound. He needed sound.

He was too caught up in his maniac rocking back and forth underneath the table, discombobulated humming, and concentration on the static of the phone to hear the actual sound of the hotel room door opening. River came in with a breakfast tray in her hands, she had wanted to surprise the Doctor with breakfast in bed. 

The two bedroom suite had probably one of the best walls made for keeping sound in and out. Probably best in their situation, as River was quite expressive during their best times. But as she set the hotel key down in a bowl on the living room table she called out across the suite. “Sweetie, you up yet?”

The Doctor looked up from the floor, even though she couldn’t tell. His voice was broken, he managed a strangled gasp from the roof of his mouth. “River!” 

River immediately set the tray down and followed the sound of her Doctor’s pained voice. A million thoughts ran through her head as she discovered him underneath the bedroom table, rocking back and forth. He looked like he was in tears, and she was instantly at his side.

“Sweetie, what happened?” She asked, running her hands over his face before pulling his head close to her chest.

“I couldn’t hear anything. You weren’t here, and the Tardis wasn’t in my head. And I just- over reacted that’s all. I overreacted.” He said shaking his head back and forth trying to get himself back to normal. Or whatever he was.

“Doctor, do you need a visit to the Tardis. You haven’t seen her for almost three days, I think you need to just check up on her. Or she needs to check up on you for that matter.” River said. She lifted him up, onto her shoulder. She carried him through the lobby, as he banged his hands against his head.

When they reached the Tardis, right outside the restaurant-hotel where they’d left it. He pushed his hands up against the door, and as if sensing she had the full intent to follow him he spun around quickly. “I’m good.”

“Honey, no, you need this.” River said, pushing open the door a little more, but he quickly grabbed her hand stopping her. 

She was shocked, taking a step back. Something about this wasn’t right. He looked inside, there was just a glimpse at the inside of the Tardis, she still marveled in it’s new interior. He looked back at her, shook his head and closed the door once more. “Let’s go back to the hotel room.”

“Hello, Doctor, Wife speaking. What’s going on in that big ole head of yours?” She said, tapping the side of his face, he nearly smiled at it too, if not been for the serious concern he had for the moment he would have.

“I don’t want to get separated from you. If you and I go inside the Tardis, I’m afraid-” He began to say something but then she placed her finger over his lips and whispered.

“Spoilers.” She smiled in the way that she used to.

“Right.” He nodded, pretending to bite at the finger near his lips. Her hand moved to his shoulder, as she leaned on her toes pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I’ll wait in the room for you.” She said. Turning around she headed back towards the hotel, and he turned towards his Tardis. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside quickly, closing it before anyone could see.

The familiar hum spread from his head to his feet, and he immediately felt better. He almost had half a mind to just walk back out, only pop in for occasional power ups and then leave. Not have to be reminded that there was something he’d have to do after River. But he knew Old Girl deserved more than that. 

He walked around the center of the control room once, his hand ghosting over levers and buttons that he would eventually press again. And then as he reached back where he started the Tardis tried to send something to him, but quickly realizing it was the end of his time of Darillium, he shut his eyes and blocked her out. 

Light blue. Whatever that meant. He wasn’t sure. It could of just been the color of the Tardis when he reopened his eyes, but he somehow felt it had to do with what she was trying to show him. After a small goodbye and promise to visit, almost like one would give to their mother, he left again. 

He looked around almost nervous as if someone was going to take it. That’s also why he wanted to find a house so soon, so the Tardis had somewhere to rest while they lived out their little life here. When he got back to the hotel room River sitting on the bed looking through some kind of pamphlet.

“The desk clerk said this is a great neighborhood for houses. The prices don’t seem too bad, plus I’ve managed quite a bit of money while you were off gallivanting the universe.” She stopped as she didn’t hear him reply. Setting her pamphlet down then looking up she didn’t move, and she stayed silent.

She watched as he ghosted over to the bed, before sitting down next to her. He stared off into space for a while, just looking at the wall, and just as she went back to her pamphlet she felt him lean over and rest his head in her lap humming a small tune.


End file.
